Gradation Air
by TheRunedEXP
Summary: We had it all. Our lives were set. We were going to be together forever... But everything had to change. It was my life that had to be ruined... Why? Alternate story, Takes place in Accel World universe, its all about OC's. It's good, trust me.


08/25/2066

Another math problem. And another. And another. This has been going on for 4 hours, and Haru is just about ready to fall asleep on the desk he is doing his homework on right then and there.

It wasn't much of an eventful day, really. He hasn't been in a single battle for about a week for some odd reason, and really, the group of Nega Nebulas has been focusing a little bit more than usual on reality than usual.

After making sure that everything has been finished for the next day, Haru decides its time to go to sleep. He changes into his pajamas, and as he's doing so, he wonders what Kuroyukihime has been up to. They haven't talked the whole day, so he thought it was rather odd that they hadn't interacted-

A notification for a group voice conversation pops up right in front of him.

Taku

Kuroyuki

Chiyuri

'Huh. The three of them had been discussing something and decided to invite me in last. I wonder what that could mean?' Oblivious as to what might happen next, he accepts the call….

"Hey guys, what's been going o-" He's interrupted by Kuroyuki.

"Haru… We've discovered something dangerous."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"You know of the Trinity Fighters, right?"

Haru stops to think for a second. "Yeah, the pair of three linkers who seem really close and nearly undefeated. What about them?"

They're all Level 5 linkers, and the three members are Dark Eclipse, a close range figher who uses dual swords, Bright Ultima, a long range strider who utilizes elemental attacks, and Rune Gradation, a shield fighter. The three of them were inseparable, and they reminded Haru of himself, Taku, and Chiyuri in a sense.

"Theres a controversial news article that I'm going to send to you. Please read it carefully. Its…. It might relate to the three of them. Because… Dark Eclipse and Bright Ultima haven't been online in a week."

What? That didn't leave a good taste in Haru's mouth. He touches his finger on the article, and prepares for the worse.

It's a rather tragic story. Three kids, who have been childhood friends since they were in kindergarten, managed to stay together into High School. Nakahara Hikari, Oshiro Saito, and Matsuoka Shiro. They are notorious at their school for being the head of the gaming club there, and they are looked up to as very kind leaders. But….

Recently, Nakahara Hikari had died of a weak heart. She was in hospital care for 2 weeks prior to her death. Saito and Shiro stayed by her side the whole way through, skipping school for the most of the two weeks. When she finally died, they tried to stay with her until she was taken to the morgue, and they didn't leave her side after the funeral for a day, just sitting there in silence, staring at her tombstone.

The day after they had to go back home, Saito committed suicide. And as of right now, Shiro has refused to leave his room for a day. The mother finally got into his room, and it is apparent that he has fallen into a coma. He is alive and well, but it isn't known when he will wake up. He has been in a coma for three days.

"This is a sad story… But… Wait, you're not thinking that they're the Trinity Fighters, are they?"

There was a silence. Taku spoke up, "Its very likely that is the case… And if this is the case, then Shiro is likely under the influence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder if he continues to interact with the Accelerated World."

"Thus, another Chrome Disaster-type of risk is at hand." Kuroyuki said this in a grim tone, and this worried Haru.

"Shouldn't we reach out to him, then? He lost his most trusted friends, and he likely is very alone now…" Chiyuri said this in a worrisome tone, thinking of what would happen if this happened to the those two-

"That's what I'm getting at…. Shiro has been under a coma for three days… If this behavior persists, he will stay like this for quite some time and we won't be able to react to him in the real world. However…"

A time counter is shown in front of Haru.

7 years, 4 months, 3 days, 6 hours. The hour counter goes up by one every four seconds.

"This is a login counter. I managed to sneak this out… Everyone, Rune Gradation has been logged in the Unlimited Field for 3 days straight. He's been in there this whole time, and hes been killing legendary enemy after legendary enemy. He's also taken every single fight request he's been given, and hasn't lost any burst points the whole time."

Theres no way. Theres no damned way that he could be in there for that long. Why would he do such a thing?

"Wait, he hasn't lost ANY burst points?! And he's Level 8?! Do we have any idea how many points he has leftover?!" Haru is freaking out at this point. He doesn't know what to think at this point.

A file from Taku is received.

It's a giant spreadsheet, and at the bottom everything has been added up….

"A surplus of.. of…"

"100 Billion Burst points."

There's no way. A solo player accomplishing a feat like this in Accel World?! This surpasses Green Grandee's feats of defeating enemies in the Unlimited Field!

"Theres another thing…"

Two images pop up simultaneously.

"The color of the avatar of Rune Gradation has changed drastically. It used to be the color Green, a very pure and vibrant shade of it at that, but…

The second image…

The avatar is black, with very thin stripes of green running like lines on a circuit board.

"We need to get to him. Quickly, before things get much much worse."

"When will we meet up?"

"Everyone, let's meet up at Haru's place. I expect you all to arrive there in thirty minutes."

This isn't good… If this results in another thing like Chrome Disaster… People are going to get hurt.


End file.
